The Malta Union of Bank Employees has said that it is currently in a dispute with HSBC Bank Malta over the proposed restructuring of its Maltese wealth management arm and has ordered industrial action.

While the Maltese director of industrial and employment relations has intervened in the dispute and convened two meetings on the issue, no resolution has been reached. As a result, HSBC’s wealth management staff are on strike.

“MUBE has now written to the Minister responsible for Justice, Dialogue and the Family to appoint an Industrial Tribunal in accordance with Maltese employment law with the intention of settling the trade dispute in the absence of a negotiated settlement between the parties concerned,” the Union said in a statement.

“MUBE reiterates that its preference will always be that of a negotiated settlement and a mutually agreed way forward.”

HSBC had not responded to enquiries from WealthBriefing on the matter at the time of publication.

HSBC closed several of its Maltese branches earlier this year – those in Msida, Santa Venera, Naxxar, Attard, Sliema and in Luqa – as part of its restructure on the island. The group is engaged in a wide-ranging restructure, which was first announced in May 2011, which has seen it withdraw from markets where it doesn’t have critical mass and streamline several business lines. Earlier this week HSBC announced that it will now focus its Islamic finance offering on clients in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, while ceasing to offer Shariah-compliant products in the UK, the UAE, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Singapore and Mauritius.